Local authority approaches to supporting school improvement
Foreword
I am pleased to present this national thematic inspection report on how local authorities in Scotland support school improvement. This report reflects insights gathered from all 32 local authorities, offering a comprehensive overview of the strengths, challenges, and opportunities within our education system.
Local authorities play a pivotal role in supporting schools to improve the quality of education. This report highlights how they undertake this critical work, focusing on self-evaluation, improvement planning, quality assurance, professional learning, and the delivery of both universal and targeted support to schools.
Across Scotland, there is much to commend. We have seen strong examples of strategic leadership, robust data-driven self-evaluation, and collaborative cultures where schools and local authorities work together to improve outcomes for children and young people. Positive relationships, grounded in professional trust and respect, underpin many of these successes. In particular, effective leadership at all levels – central officers, school leaders, and middle leaders – emerges as a powerful driver for sustainable improvement.
However, the report also identifies areas where improvement is needed. There is notable variability in the consistency and quality of support provided to schools, both within and across local authorities. The effectiveness of self-evaluation processes requires strengthening, to maximise the progress of children and young people. Strengthening leadership development at all levels is essential for building capacity for continuous improvement.
The fiscal challenges facing all local authorities are significant. Financial constraints and the geographical realities of rural and island communities create barriers to consistent support and professional learning opportunities. The rural and remote contexts of a third of Scotland’s local authorities present unique challenges, including attracting and retaining high-quality staff and ensuring consistent in-person engagement with schools. Addressing these challenges requires system-wide collaboration.
Despite these pressures, many local authorities are cultivating a culture of excellence and enhanced accountability. Where this culture thrives, there is a strong, collective responsibility to support every child and young person to achieve, regardless of which school they attend. This should be our shared ambition.
Another notable strength is the high-quality professional learning available to teachers, supported through a variety of courses, programmes, networks, and coaching approaches. However, there is a gap in comprehensive professional learning for central officers in local authorities – an area that must be addressed to ensure that they are equipped to lead and support improvement effectively.
I would like to acknowledge the work of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) in developing a framework for self-evaluation. This represents an important step towards strengthening the capacity of local authorities to reflect on their performance and secure improvement. Complementing this, our work to develop a framework for inspecting local authorities will provide an essential external perspective. It offers opportunities to strengthen partnerships and support continuous improvement to ensure that efforts are delivering the best outcomes for Scotland’s learners. The learning from this national thematic inspection will directly inform the development of that framework.
I am grateful to all those who contributed to this thematic inspection, including local authority officers, school leaders, elected members, teachers, professional associations and parents. Their openness and commitment to improvement are evident throughout this report.
Ultimately, this report reinforces a shared ambition: to ensure that all of Scotland’s children and young people benefit from an education system that is inclusive, equitable, and of the highest quality. Together, through continuous reflection, leadership, and collaborative practice, we can achieve this goal – ensuring that every learner thrives in a system committed to their success.
Janie McManus
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education
